Under Their Nose
by DesktopLamp
Summary: Choosing to become a blacksmith over a fighter felt like the best option at the time. However, as years passed, hiding a pet dragon while trying to subtly change Viking's opinions on them was starting to look bad. With more vikings growing suspicious, tribes growing interested, and dragons growing active, Hiccup was learning the hard way about keeping secrets from under their nose
1. Career Choices

**Heyo! Evening, HTTYD fandom. I've been an avid reader of fanfiction for a long time, well a reader in general, and I really enjoy a lot of the HTTYD stories written by people here considering I'm on here daily to read up on new stories written. However, a lot of them feel so, so heavy. Many of them are great, but sometimes takes away the magic of How to Train Your Dragon which is light at heart. So, I wanted to add a little something to lighten the mood with an idea I've had for almost a year now. I'll cut the spiel short here and only ask that you've watched How To Train Your Dragon before reading.** ** _Enjoy!_**

 _Chapter 1 - Prelude: Career Choices_

 _I shot down a dragon..._

 _I shot down a Night Fury!_

 _I shot down a Night Fury and... let it go..._

"Aaaargh!" Hiccup groaned and shouted simultaneously in the hands pressed against his face. His body was sat with his back against a tree not several meters from his village, Berk. The light of the moon breaking over the horizon and the torches of the village beginning to illuminate most of it. He slowly pulled his head away from his hands and stared pensively at his palms. They were worked, much of it due to his apprenticeship under Gobber's... "tutelage." However, they were far from callused in comparison to a battle born Viking that wield their weapon like a part of themselves.

They were far from hands capable of slaying a dragon...

His brows scrunched as he looked at those hands almost spitefully. Why couldn't they be meatier? Maybe then he might be able to hold a weapon properly, let alone kill a dragon with it.

And he could have killed one!

It was completely ensnared by his bola, _his own creation!_ It was staring right at him and did nothing. He had his dagger in his hands and did nothing. Why did he do nothing? Those were the situations where you very much did _something!_ Something like killing a dragon. Not just _a_ dragon. _The_ dragon! Cut out its heart and promptly deliver it to your chief who also happened to be the father you have wanted to make proud of you for the last entirety of your life. This seemed nigh impossible now especially now that he was coming home as a literal failure.

His arms fell between his legs, his head jerking back as he looked past the ocean line, the moon shining so ridiculously bright as though it were mocking him. Of course it was mocking him. His house happened to be on the highest point of Berk. It's not like there were any obstructions of him seeing it or of it seeing him. It simply rose into the sky, much like it did last night, but this time only to insult him. It was there to remind him of the day before where it was in the sky yet lent little to no help in providing proof to anyone that he hit anything at all. No, the moon didn't feel like being bright enough that night. But _this_ night, it felt like being the sun! Bet it was jealous and is taking it out on him...

Letting a sigh drawl from his lips, he shook his head and curled a fist in his hair. What was he supposed to tell his dad? _Obviously,_ he wasn't going to say he didn't kill the Night Fury. That was out of the question. If his dad asked where he went, he would say he went searching and that it only proved that he didn't hit anything. Solid plan in all honesty. Really, everyone, including his father, believed he didn't hit anything. Saying he didn't find anything wouldn't change much.

No, the real problem was any conversation _after_ that, namely the one about how his goal of being one of them was an actual impossibility. How was he supposed to say he couldn't kill dragons, and how was he supposed to explain that? That was the head scratcher!

 _Oh, hey, so I really didn't hit that Night Fury last night. Also, I can't kill dragons for no particular reason like I actually found the Night Fury, which I didn't hit by the way, but also let it go. No, no, nothing like that! I just can't kill a dragon because... I have a bad leg?_

He face palmed again with another audible groan. Lying. He was so very not good at it. Feeling frustrated again, he started scratching his head while he thought over what he could possibly say if it was ever brought up. It really was a thinker, considering not many people suddenly say they aren't dragon killers out of the blue. Hell, he doubted any Viking out there has ever said they weren't a dragon killer. He jerked his head against the trunk of the tree again, avoiding the moon and looking to the stars directly overhead. What was he going to do?

"Maybe I'll ask Gobber. He's probably got an idea at what I could be good at, because he's pretty good at knowing what I'm not." _Which is a dragon killer._ Hiccup picked himself up from off the ground, dusting off his pants from various tumbles and falls he had and took a deep breath. He'd at least try to figure something out before the morning. Maybe even a few days after knowing his family's conversational track record.

Walking towards his home, he couldn't help look at the moon directly across from him, so bright and honestly beautiful. He wondered to himself if the moon would constantly remind him of today. It was a pretty memorable day. Shot a dragon down. Berated in front of the entire village, though that was surprisingly common. Found said shot down dragon. Let it go. Walking home knowing he let it go. Promptly kicked out of the village because he let slip that he let a dragon go. Boy, was he not going to forget today.

The memory was playing over and over in his head as he opened the door to his house. Lost in his thought, he hadn't realized the flickering light illuminating the cracks in the door. He didn't even notice the fire very much lit in the middle of his house. No, what finally snapped him from his stupor was the burly shadow the fire was silhouetting. He immediately cringed as he looked at the door he had just opened and shut, wondering to himself if the man had heard it. Clearly, that wasn't the case because the individual had yet to turn. Then again, his father was pretty good at not noticing things, like him coming home.

Once he had noticed Stoick sat at the fireplace, Hiccup was infinitely glad he had oiled the door hinges a few nights prior. Several Viking slams here and there lead to some headache inducing creaks. It was really amazing that a door could survive a Stoick slam. His thoughts digressed as he made sure not a single noise was sounded as he tiptoed his way towards the stairs. The man seemed to be preoccupied with something, maybe some metalwork considering the caldron over the fire pit, or it was dinner. One of the two. Either way, he wasn't hungry for porridge or _steel._ He'd much rather proceed with the usual routine of very little contact where it could be avoided as he thought about how he was supposed to explain that-

"Hiccup."

Another cringe. Was crawling up the stairs on all fours too loud? Well, no point in thinking it over now.

"Dad!" Hiccup called out a little excitedly, mentally slapping himself about the nervous way he said it. However, this was the moment. If he could have avoided his dad, it would have been easy to buy time. However, if he _was_ pulled into a conversation, then there was no way of keeping this quiet, not without proper preparation, and not with his father. So, instead, he was gonna attempted the Viking way... and dive in head first. "I, uh, I have to talk to you, dad." Without a paddle.

"I need to speak to you too, son." Stoick clasped both his hands together as he looked at his son. His helmet was off, which was a little jarring. Normally it was only off his head when he was off to bed. However, the helmet head did nothing to detract from the fact Hiccup's father was maybe two to three times bigger than him in height. If they were talking about width, he'd be four to five times as wide.

However intimidating his dad was at this very moment was not the point. The real point was that the man had something to say, which means Hiccup wouldn't be able to say what he had to say until the very end, and even then it would probably be one sided. He would have to explain it first!

"I've decided I don't want to fight dragons!"

"I think it's time you learned to fight dragons."

Both men's hands were stretched in front of them, their eyes going wide as they looked at each other, the words they both said coming out at the exact same time and hearing none of what the other said in turn.

His dad watched as Hiccup slowly crawled down the steps before he spoke. "Uh, you go first." Stoick said politely.

 _No, no, you go first_ was what Hiccup wanted to say out of pure courtesy, but thankfully he had stopped himself. He needed to go first.

Now, he just needed his own words to come to him.

"I-I was thinking... You know, we have a surplus of dragon-fighting Vikings, but do we have enough bread-making Vikings, or small home repair Vikings-"

"What are you talking about?" Stoick cut off as he looked down at him quizzically, trying to understand what his son was getting at. Hiccup looked up at him just as confused as he tried to piece together what he was going to say.

What needed to be said.

"I don't want to fight dragons."

The words came out as seriously as he could possibly muster. However, the words themselves were so out of place that the man started laughing lightly, assuming it was a joke. The notion was honestly a joke in Viking culture. It was so preposterous that it was funny before it was detrimental or even a terrible thought.

"Come on. Yes you do." His father continued to chuckle before lightly tapping his backhand against Hiccup's chest, which caused the small boy to stumble back a few steps. Height, weight, _density..._ A light tap from a big man to a small twig usually did that.

Hiccup watched as his father began walking away and towards the fireplace, picking up what appeared to be the axe he was working on.

It was now or never...

"Re-Really, I don't."

"Yes you do." Stoick answered almost affirmatively, still with the lighthearted nature, but Hiccup pressed more.

"Dad..." The tone came out in almost a whisper, but the whisper somehow pierced into Stoick's head as he turned to his son, the notion finally starting to click that his son wasn't making his usual sarcastic quips. He placed the axe in his hand back down on the bench. "I'm serious." And now it was affirmed.

Stoick looked back at his son as though he were foreign. Surely it couldn't be so. His son wasn't really going to... no... He... he was raised to believe in killing dragons. He may have been born a little skinnier than... well... everyone, but he was a Viking. He wasn't going to turn his back on what was essentially in Viking blood. What was in... _his_ blood...

"Hiccup, you... you really can't be-"

"Gobber..." His son immediately interrupted, his head hung low and his hands clenched into fists. Thankfully, Stoick paused in his speech, but it meant that he would have to finish the thought. "Gobber said... I shouldn't try to be what I'm not." He took in another breath and was about to continue, but-

"But Gobber suggested that it would be good for you to go into dragon-"

"I'm not a dragon killer, dad!" Hiccup shouted, leaving the man in shock. It wasn't the words that shocked him, but the delivery. Hiccup never shouted. "I'm... I can't kill dragons. I've... tried. I really, _really_ have, and all of those tries failed."

Think it through, the cats out of the bag, now figure out what you can do...

"So..." Hiccup said slowly, praying to all the gods his father wouldn't interrupt the thought. "I was thinking..." think harder dang it! Think harder! "I wouldn't be good at killing dragons because..." _I have a bad leg?_

 _That's stupid, Gobber has a bad leg and he fights dragons too!_

 _He's also got a bad arm._

 _Quickly, what would Gobber say?_

 _Gobber would say he'd need a change of undies._

 _You're working with very little time here, brain, and that's what you got?_

 _No, maybe not what Gobber would say._

 _But, what would he do?_

 _What would Gobber do?_

 _What does Gobber do?_

 _What does Gobber do!_

"I think I would be better as a blacksmith!" He almost shouted.

Stoick was taken aback, the look of shock more of a realization rather than woe. "A blacksmith?"

"A blacksmith." Hiccup reaffirmed while nodding his head energetically. "I mean, I can't lift a hammer or throw an axe." He started shuffling over to the axe his dad had placed on the bench, picking it up with both arms and heaving it to his chest. "But, what I can do is sharpen tools. I've also made an axe or two as well!" He almost cheered.

This could work. This would make sense. He was already an apprentice to Gobber and he already spent more than his fair share of hours in the forge helping Gobber with this or that. Sure, it might have not been a lot of lessons, but he learned a thing or two! Now that it was a possible career option that didn't involve dragon killing, directly at least, he could probably do it.

"Blacksmithing..."

"Yeah."

"With Gobber."

"Yep!"

"As your teacher."

"Mhm."

Stoick began moving towards the bench, Hiccup shuffling around him to give way, really needing to take a seat on this one. This was... this was a doozy of a conundrum. On one hand, it might just cause Berk a few less property damage, at least outside of the forge, and Gobber already caused some in there anyways. It would also keep Hiccup out of harm's way, and Hiccup really wasn't built to take on a dragon. On the other hand...

"This... fighting dragons is part of the family." Stoick gestured towards the house. "We're a line of strong and powerful Vikings who lead by example. We... Champions of Berk, as both chief and warrior." The words coming out more as passive thinking rather than being directed at Hiccup. Stoick continued to mull over his thoughts, arms now resting over his knees and looking towards the ground. Though Hiccup's idea made sense to him... for him, it didn't make sense for his lineage. Out of the corner of his eyes, he noticed his son's boots stepping forward. He looked up to a much more determined looking Hiccup.

"You can't help what you aren't." He said slowly, always going back to Gobber's words. Hiccup wasn't a dragon killer and he should stop trying to be what he isn't. "I... I'm clearly not good at dealing with dragons, and with how I am-" he gestured towards his spindly arms and scraggly legs. "-I may never be. However, a blacksmith? That's something I've at least showed some progress in."

The large man looked up at his son now giving his signature lopsided smile. Stoick could see in Hiccup's face that he was still conflicted, but it was a compromise that he had thought of himself and was honestly happy with. It was also a compromise that made sense and could work. After all... he was already in the process of it anyways. Might as well go the whole way through, even if it wasn't the same path as his own.

Nodding his head, Hiccup's father reached out his hand and placed it on Hiccup's shoulders before standing, his head nodding the entire way up. "Alright, Hiccup. It's clear that you've made your choice." The boy's smile was now beaming which caused him to smile as well. "We definitely could use another blacksmith..." the words came out slowly, almost heavy. The thought was still a tough one to make.

"Six limbs are better than two in there, right?" Hiccup joked lightly as he snickered, trying his best to keep the conversation not awkward.

Stoick smiled wider. "Gobber could use the extra hand." His eyes scanned down. "And legs." He began giggling as well, Hiccup following suit as they thought of the one armed, one legged tubby excuse for one of the fiercest and hard headed Vikings either of them had ever know. The light snickers grew into an eruption of laughter. Mirth now filled the air of the Haddock household. It was something the two of them needed, and honestly it came as no surprise that it was thanks to Gobber that they were laughing right now.

As Stoick's jolly roars began to subside, he turned his gaze back to his son, the serious expression dawning over him again. "Are you sure about this, Hiccup?"

Looking up to Stoick, there seemed to be a small moment after his recovery where he thought over the question. It wasn't long and it honestly didn't seem like a hard thought judging from Hiccup's face. "I'm sure."

This was the look of a _man_ with resolution. There was no changing his choice now.

"Well, guess I'll have to break it to Gobber that you'll not take part in dragon training, but instead be a full and proper apprentice." Crossing his arms, Stoick was now looking at the boy judgmentally. "Although... will it be alright if you can barely carry an axe?" He raised a knowing brow.

Hiccup only shrugged as he leaned the axe he was carrying against the wall. "Hey, better trying to carry an axe in the forge than in front of a dragon, right?" the boy joked again. "Besides, it's not a lot of _carrying_ anyways. It's just lifting, holding in place, and hammering, and I can definitely hold that tiny little mallet." He began flexing his arms. "You know, thanks to these solid _muscles._ " Grunting noises immediately followed which caused Stoick to snort.

"Get some rest, son. You may be a full-time apprentice now, but it may be a little while before you get proper lessons. I've planned another expedition to the nest and Gobber'll be busy training up the recruits in dragon training." He promptly patted Hiccup on the back. "So, you'll most likely be helping him with that until we're back. It might be a while until you get proper time in the forge."

Hiccup began to fidget, a little worried he might be roped into dragon training anyways after all he had said and done. The concern was quickly alleviated.

"But, I'll be sure to have Gobber make sure you're not causing too much ruckus. Can't have you getting in the way of the recruits learning the ropes while you learn to tie those ropes around the maces and shields." Stoick laughed heartily while Hiccup chuckled softly in relief. "Gobber might have you moving things around in there, sharpening the weapons used, or even sometimes dealing with the dragons'-" Hiccup gulped. "-cages." and immediately sighed. "Make sure they're locked up tight, maybe feed them once in a while. At least until we're back, and hopefully with progress on finding the nest!" Stoick cheered again.

Hearing Stoick laugh heartily again, he determined it would be the best to finish up their discussion and go to sleep. There was no way he could deal with his dad giving him mini-heart attacks after dealing with a long conversation like that. However, it was a conversation that needed to be had. Honestly, it went infinitely better than anything he had predicted in the very limited time he had to think about it.

Saying goodnight to his dad and heading up the stairs to his room, he reached for the blanket on his bed and threw it over the side. Plopping himself onto the layers and layers of fur, it was time for him to think, really think, because this was happening. He was no longer going to be a dragon killer. He wasn't going to follow in the footsteps of his father, his grandfather, his grandfather's grandfather, and his grandfather's grandfather's great, great aunt twice removed. Instead, he'd become a blacksmith.

But, at least he's still a Viking.

 **Author's Note :** **Just to preface everyone reading, I plan to upload the preludes that will build the premise of the main story over the course of this week. After that, there might not be any updates for a good while because I want to finish** ** _the entire story_** **before uploading it all in a consistent fashion. It's a bummer but as a reader, all I ever want is consistency with updates. What better way to do that than have the story done before uploading everything. Think of these as a teaser, and hopefully the main course comes soon!**


	2. Questionable Start

_Chapter 2 - Prelude: Questionable Start_

The air felt good when Hiccup woke up from his sleep. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, he was probably late for something... Oh well, it's probably not important now anyways if his dad wasn't yelling at him about it yet.

He laid in bed for a little bit, thinking about what he had said to Stoick. He was choosing to become something besides a warrior. Something other than a killer. Maybe as a blacksmith, he could do with a lot less skull crushing and scar making. The prospect seemed far less stressful which was nice to think about.

Wondering to himself what he was going to do today, Hiccup decided that being a little lazy and relaxing for a bit wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Thinking through the next part of the rest of his essentially new life required a bit of thought, and right now he had the chance to-

"Hiccup!"

Completely forgo the thought and jump out of bed. Yep, yep, he was definitely late for _something!_ The yelling of his name usually confirmed that. Bolting out of his room and running down the stairs, he tripped over his leg and proceeded to now tumble down each and every step. After a few more unprecedented rolls, his curled up and slightly pained body had reached the door, much to his chagrin considering that it was the blunt force that stopped his rolling. He picked himself up from the ground and opened it, a lot less energetic in nature.

As the light shined through the entrance, he looked off into the distance and watched several sets of Vikings with several more sets of equipment over their shoulders heading towards the dock.

 _Right._

The expedition to Helheim was today. This caused him to pick up the pace and head down to the docks to meet up with Stoick and Gobber. For some odd reason, he was not looking forward to it... Okay, it wasn't so odd. Gobber liked to tease him when in front of his dad. Now that he was going to become a full time apprentice, the teasing might get much worse.

"Hey! Hey, I'm here. I'm here." Seeing the two large men in the distance, his feet began to move faster as he called out to them. Both men turned to the boy jogging down the hill, almost anticipating him to fall over with one wrong step. Luckily for Hiccup, he already filled that quota today, and thankfully no one was around to see it. He promptly stopped in front of them when he finally got down. "Okay..." he began huffing exasperatedly, taking a breather after the morning run. "I'm here. What was it you wanted to tell me?"

"Well, y'see. I'm still a little miffed that Stoick di'n't take mah suggestion-"

"Which-" Stoick raised a hand and interrupted Gobber. "-I explained to him that I did, but felt that you had made a better suggestion." Both father and son looked at the other man nodding his head knowingly.

"Yeah, well, y'know, you're not wrong about tha..." Gobber turned his attention back to Hiccup who was now standing a little straighter, though the boy was arching to the left and massaging his side for some reason. "Bu' that leaves me in the predicament of two jobs..." He quickly glanced up in the direction of the arena before gesturing to Hiccup. "One o' these jobs being a full time investment!" Looking down at Hiccup again, he paused for a moment before he brought his hand up and started counting off his fingers with his hook hand while pondering.

 _1... 2... 3..._

"Three jobs actually, considerin' one of the jobs is actually two jobs. Teachin' and babysittin'-"

 _"Hey!"_

"An' I'll already be busy as it is makin' sure none of the recruits aren't blowing themselves up t' smithereens." Gobber finished as he crossed his arms, looking at Stoick and ignoring the complaining Hiccup.

"Which is why I think it'll be best to have Hiccup help you with dragon training." Stoick turned to Hiccup, sizing him up and determining his... capabilities... "You make sure dragons don't kill the recruits. He makes sure every lesson is ready to go. Clean up the ring when you're done, make sure the dragons are locked up. Weapons in place. Small things like that. An extra hand to help out."

"I feel like I'm being assigned as a janitor more than an apprentice..."

"For now." Both Stoick and Gobber said in unison as they looked down at Hiccup who was getting poutier.

Gobber nodded his head in agreement. "Tha' could work." He contemplatively rubbed his chin. "I can keep an eye on him, then at the end of the day, maybe I can show him how to use a hammer."

"I already know how t-"

"Y'barely know how to lift one."

"It's not that hard!"

"So, you'll do it?" his dad interrupted their conversation and asked the man. The man in question still nodding his head with his hand to his chin. Still in thought, Gobber was looking more and more approving of the situation.

"Meh." He shrugged nonchalantly. "It'll probably work. Expect me to bill you f'r any explosion in the forge."

"I don't cause explosions-"

Both large men looked at Hiccup with a raised brow.

"-that... often."

"So, you'll do it?" Stoick asked again. Gobber nodded.

"Yeah, I'll do it." He patted his friend on the arm. "Jus' make sure you get back from the trip. I don't make any money if y're all dead, y'know." Gobber jested.

Stoick chuckled softly, taking the joke as a joke rather than a very serious possibility. "Make sure he doesn't cause too much trouble while I'm away." He immediately heard his son's protest

"I find that my complaints aren't being accounted for." Hiccup grumbled with his arms crossed.

"Oh, they are-" Stoick noted as he turned his attention to him. "-they're just being delegated with the other complaints in the pile." He gave Hiccup a cheeky smile which caused both Gobber and Hiccup to snort, one out of amusement, the other out of dejection. Giving a few chuckles, his expression relaxed as he looked at his son, a hint of sadness present in his eyes. "I'll be back..." Stoick started walking towards the ship that was loading up with the final pieces of equipment. He turned and looked over his shoulders. "-probably."

"And I'll be here..." Hiccup looked at Gobber before turning his head and rolling his eyes. "-maybe."

Giving one final nod to both Gobber and his son, he watched Gobber give him one hook up, reassuring him that things would most likely, kind of, maybe be fine while he was away, probably.

It wasn't long after that when Stoick called out to set sail and it wasn't much long after that before the last longboat was disappearing over the horizon. Another expedition to the dragon's nest launched, with the same chance of success as literally every single one preceding it. It was a grim thought, but Hiccup also knew his dad was a tough man to take down. He'd honestly have a better chance at Helheim than Hiccup did with Gobber.

Getting back to the point at hand, he would have to worry about himself now. He very much didn't have the brawn of a standard Viking, and nowhere near that of his father. Rather, he'd have to compensate with something a little less physical but also as potent. He'd have to use his brain. Now that he had a forge to himself, he might be able to do something more.

"Whelp. Tha's that." Gobber chimed as he started walking up the road from the docks. "Time to go get ready for dragon trainin'." Hiccup was quick to follow behind. "Since I can't have ye' trancin' around the forge on y'r own all the time-" _That plan_ was already out the window wasn't it. "I'll have you start settin' up the weapon and shield stands in the ring for today's lesson."

Hiccup let out a defeated sigh. He really was on janitor duty now, and it seemed like Gobber was going to milk this for all its worth from that smug grin on his face.

"This is actually no' a bad idea. Less work f'r me." The one armed man cheered as he swung his hook hand around.

"And more work for me..." Followed Hiccup's response as he buried his head in his hand again, not prepared for the torture Gobber was about to put him through. All he got as reassurance was a pat on the back.

"Hey, ye' knew what you were gettin' into saying you wanted to be my apprentice. I was gonna have y'do random errands anyways, so might as well start with you helpin' out in the ring."

"Helping out, or doing all the work while all you do is talk to a bunch of kids..." the boy grumbled audibly.

"Again-" the man smiled as the two made their way to the forge. "-you could have been one of the trainees. Instead, ye' signed up for this. Now go get the axes, swords, maces- all the weapons, really, and bring 'em to the ring... Also the shields. Lots and lots of shields. That's gonna be the lesson today."

"How is it possible you're able to make me regret everything the minute it became an option..." Hiccup bemoaned.

xXxXx

Immediately regret the decision he did. Hiccup was sitting on one of the seats surrounding the ring and groaning in pain quietly to himself as to not be heard by the other teens currently dealing with the Gronkle in the arena. Gobber had him lug over ten shields into the ring, and ten sets of weapons as well. The man promptly decided against the weapons, having Hiccup bring all the weapons back to the forge. Then, he decided that it would better to have the weapons ready if need be and had him bring back all the weapons again... Then, he decided that ten sets was a little too much because weapons weren't the point of the lesson, so he had him send back everything except two sets... Hiccup was hating life already, and the first day barely started. Scratch that, he was really hating Gobber a little bit more.

Slouching up from his seat to watch the commotion happening below, he recalled Gobber's words to the teens before the lesson had started.

 _I believe in learning on the job._

That's one way of saying he didn't feel like actually explaining anything, both in the smithy and in the lesson. Well, Astrid did say that it wouldn't be any fun if they didn't get a scar out of it. He winced when he watched Fishlegs being carried around by his collar before being promptly thrown against a wall. _Wonder if that would leave a mark._

"Come on now!" The teacher yelled loudly. "Ye've already dealt with four shots. You lot might be out, bu' that doesn't mean ye' can't be distractions f'r the others. Tha's what teamwork's all about." This caused Hiccup to snort. "Also, make sure to use the extra shields t'keep y'r pants from catching on fire." Gobber chuckled as he leaned leisurely against the stone walls, a shield resting gingerly next to him. The man at least took his own lessons to heart.

"So, why isn't Hiccup down here being a distraction?!" one of the teens, his cousin Snotlout, yelled out, more frightened than snide. "Could sure use another thing for that stupid dragon to shoot at!"

"Well, he won't be participating with dragon training. He'll be workin' as my apprentice in th'forge." This caused a few of the teens to collectively call out, _"What?!"_

"Isn't dragon training, like, a requirement or something?" Tuffnut questioned, just barely rolling out of the way of the Gronkle's fireball shot. Though, his pants did catch on fire, causing him to squeal about being very much in pain while his sister started cackling maniacally.

"Tha's five! And, not necessarily. Berk's got chefs, barmaids, and fishers that haven' had proper training. Now quit y'r yappin' and get to training!" was the end to the conversation pertaining to Hiccup. Gobber did have a point. Taking your attention away from a very large, very angry, maybe very hungry dragon wasn't necessarily the smartest thing to do, which would now explain Snotlout's current predicament involving a three-shield fort behind cover as the Gronkle slammed head first into the mini barricade.

"I find myself with a severe lack of anyone around to teamwork with!" the trapped boy shouted loudly as the Gronkle continued to head butt against the lodged shields. Hiccup had to give credit to his cousin. He was quick to fortify himself behind the shield stand while keeping himself protected with the extra shields he had found lying around once the Gronkle took interest.

"I say again, make noise and lots of it!" Gobber reminded, not looking at all worried about the boy. He'd probably be fine on his own for a bit. The man was more interested in what the rest of the kids were going to do to get that last shot out and so was Hiccup. Hiccup himself found himself a little lucky to be on the not-lethal side of the arena. Though in some physical pain, it probably didn't compare to Tuffnut's charred behind.

Almost on cue of Gobber's reminder, Astrid began slamming her axe against her shield behind the boulder class dragon. It was clear that it was having an effect because the next charge attack it made at Snotlout had detoured right into the stone wall, causing some serious head trauma as it had all but slumped into the ground after the hit. With the opportunity, the trapped trainee started crawling from his little sanctuary and rushing away from the beast, making sure to drag both shields he was carrying with him.

"Good, good. Now, ye' just have to keep doing tha' until it's down or out of shots." The man clapped lightly at the achievement. Quickly, Snotlout ran right next to Astrid, taking the opportunity to spin the situation into a win.

"Hey, so, did you like how I tricked that dragon into thinking I was scared?" Snotlout smirked as he raised one shield to his chest, making sure to flex his arms a few times for good measure. "Yeah, dragons can smell fear and I used that to my advantage. Pretty cool, huh. Not all about the brawn- but- but I still am. It's just that I'm also smart and stuff, you know, with strategies. You're smart too, and also strong. You should probably come by some times and we can hang out. You know, us smart and strong peop-" His thought wasn't finished as the girl's shield smashed right into his face as she shoved him with all the force she had in her body, causing the boy to stumble back and roll away from her. It's questionable if she did it to shut him up or actually save him from the final shot of the Gronkle. Whatever the case may be, the sixth shot went flying just between the gap Astrid had forcefully made between Snotlout and herself.

The dragon in question still looked a little dizzy from the previous impact, and now that all its fire was expelled, it was starting to look exhausted. However, this only meant it was going to become much more reckless and much more unpredictable. As Astrid readied herself for what was to come next, she watched as Gobber nonchalantly walked over to the distracted Gronkle and bonked it on the head with his shield, completely knocking out the dragon as it slumped onto the ground.

"Well done. Good work everyone, I hope ye' learned a thing or two today." Gobber said proudly as he hooked his hand into the unconscious Gronkle's jaw and started dragging him back into his pen.

 _Sure Gobber, they learned a whole lot today..._ Hiccup thought sarcastically.

"Now, remember what I taught you today." he began shepherding all the teens together, some injured, one possibly unconscious but still alive and not too worse for wear. "Shield over weapons, doe'n't matter the situation. Noise is bad for dragons so make lots of it-" both twins commented, _"Easy!"_ simultaneously before high-fiving. "-and if there's one thing I want ye' all to take away from the lesson today." Gobber crouched down to Snotlout, slapping his face a few times to wake him up. Seeing the boy come to, he continued.

"Dragon's _always_ go for the kill."

This is what stuck with Hiccup after everyone had disbanded from the ring. Even after Gobber called him to clean up all the equipment in to ring, organizing the weapons back in the weapons crate and shields back onto the stands, Hiccup thought about those words. He made sure to emphasize "always" like it was an indefinite truth. Watching what had happened in the ring today and what usually happened during raids, no one would question such irrefutable facts. Heck, in Viking history and lore, it was something that had been confirmed time and time again in all their centuries of existing in the archipelago.

When Gobber called him to gather some of the damaged weapons and shields to bring to the forge so he could teach Hiccup more about repair work, it was surprising to the man that Hiccup hadn't said a word of protest. The boy hadn't said a word of anything. It was weird to see the boy looking so heavy in thought, and it even showed in his work ethics once they had finally reached the forge. The man simply assumed his apprentice was in focus mode or had a bad stomach ache. Maybe it was a little bit of both.

Hiccup was distracted though.

In all the years of Berk, Vikings killed dragons and dragons killed Vikings

However, he broke that tradition and didn't kill the Night Fury.

What hadn't occurred to him that night until now was that the dragon also didn't kill him.

 **Author's Note** **: Wha bam! Clear signs of a diverging story from its origin. Not going to lie, it's a whole lot of fun writing this one in particular. Lots of stories portray Stoick as the villain so it's nice to make him the sort of distracted dad instead. I also know I'll be having a whole lot of fun writing the teens, and hopefully you'll like what gets written since much of the story will be in the vain of the "Race To The Edge" HTTYD series. Oh! I also want to point out that there will be some skips here and there with light descriptions of the time passed over. This is a prelude after all and not a full on rework of the original movie. Thought I'd make that clear now because the next one very much skips over stuff. I'll kindly ask again, please watch How To Train Your Dragon before reading. It's a great watch!**


	3. Sharp Realization

_Prelude: Chapter 3 - Sharp Realization_

It's not every day you learn that everything you ever knew in your life, your father's life, your whole world's life was wrong. Gods, it was oh so very wrong. Really, how could they possibly have gotten it so wrong? Well... easy actually, if two things start killing each other, you immediately assume the opposite is mindless and evil... Is that how dragons thought of them?

Hiccup shook his head vigorously, trying to get his thoughts back in order. He had to get back to the topic at hand. Dragons weren't mindless and they weren't killers... usually. Maybe to fish, but that's not the point! The point was Vikings have had it wrong all along. Dragons might be extremely dangerous but they weren't prone to violence unless provoked, at least from his current experience with Toothless.

 _Toothless_

A Night Fury, the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. It was as though Thor himself had one really crazy and drunken night and accidently dropped his hammer onto some random lizard and turned it into the most hellish and frightening beast known in creation that had plagued Viking culture for centuries. It was the only dragon in The Dragon Manuel, the end-all-be-all of information Vikings had collected on dragons throughout the centuries of fighting said dragons, where "kill on sight" wasn't the option. Instead, the only option was run, hide, and pray it doesn't find you. This was the kind of thing he was dealing with. This was the kind of dragon that chased its own tail, rolled on its back when it got a chin rub, and lolled its tongue in glee as though it were a puppy seeing its owner.

This was the sort of history defining information Hiccup was working with right now, and right now, he was working on something that could be just as history defining if he succeeds. He was going to see if he could ride it and fly!

"Alright, maybe that's not _totally_ the case..." Hiccup quipped to himself while hammering in some holes into the saddle he was making. The main purpose of the saddle for Toothless wasn't to fly on him. It may have been a byproduct, but it wasn't the purpose. It was more because Toothless himself couldn't fly without him. When he had arrived at the cove and found the large, jet black dragon mulling around by the lake, he noticed the dragon had lost one half of his tailfin. Thanks to Gobber's "lessons" he learned that taking out the tail lead to a downed dragon, and a downed dragon was a dead dragon. Ergo, it was his fault the poor guy was stuck there.

However, he did try to remedy the situation. He had created a makeshift tailfin for Toothless's other half, and it worked! ... Sort of... The thing was, the dragon couldn't open the tailfin by himself and Hiccup had no idea how he was going to work it so he could. What he did know was that he himself could do the controlling, but he wasn't planning on riding a dragon from the tail end... So, Hiccup thought of the brilliant idea of riding from a saddle instead and he would hold a string or something to control when it opened. That would probably work.

"Anyone there?"

"Gah!" Hiccup cried out in surprise, dropping the tools that were in his hand, the small mallet in particular unfortunately landing onto the tip of his left boot. His surprised shout was followed by a few clangs of metal and a wince of pain as he pulled his pained foot up from the ground and clutched it with his hands. However, his body was now off balance and with only one leg as support led him to take a few hops to right himself, causing him to jump onto the sideways nail he was using to poke holes into the saddle. A slip, a tumble, and a fall into the wall that happened to be housing Gobber's interchangeable hands rack and hanging tools now left him buried under all objects listed above as he wallowed in shame and pain.

Pain... Lots and lots of pain... He'd remind Gobber later to properly secure that stupid shelf and tools next time. The last time it fell, it landed on his foot. This time, it landed on his everything...

"That looked like it hurt." The voice quipped comically.

"Ha. Ha... very funn- Astrid!" Hiccup almost shrieked as he finally realized the person that had interrupted his session. Immediately, he shot up from the ground, all the tools falling to his side as though they weren't there, and straightened himself as best as he could while trying his best to be nonchalant about the whole ordeal. "Uh-Astrid. Hey Astrid-hi! W-wh-what are you doing he-I mean, ca-can I help you?" He stuttered in the least excited/suspicious way possible.

The female teen in question simply looked at the mess of items on the ground, one particularly large and leather object resting against the anvil Hiccup had just been using it on.

"What's that?" Astrid asked curiously as she leant through the window of the forge while pointing at the large piece of fabric that had fallen from its place.

Hiccup immediately turned his attention from Astrid to the saddle he had just been working on. The saddle he had just been working on _for the dragon._

"It's a shield!" This time, he definitely shouted before immediately reprimanding himself mentally. Good lie, idiot. A shield? Really? _It's made of leather!_ Quickly, think of something else. Actually, no, distraction! "S-so what brings you here, A-Astrid?" _Stuttering... She won't suspect a thing._

The girl looked at him quizzically for a moment before looking down at the shield-saddle. He hoped to all the gods she wouldn't ask questions about it. They seemed to answer his prayers the moment he saw her shrug her shoulders with a sound of slight disinterest on the subject before looking at him.

"Nothing, really, but something's been bothering me for a while now." The comment was causing Hiccup to sweat a little, partly due to the fire in the oven and his own nervousness. What could she possibly be- "Why aren't you in dragon training?"

 _What?_

"What?" Hiccup said mentally and aloud, one to himself and to her.

"Some of us were talking about why you weren't in dragon training." Her rested arms pushed against herself as she vaulted over the counter. She placed her axe at her side before seating herself on top of it casually. "The twins think you were disowned or something and Snotlout loves the thought of that. He kept going on about being the next chief..." Astrid shuddered with a sound of disdain. "Instead of making up reasons why you aren't there, I wanted to ask you myself." She leaned her arms against her knees as she slouched forward, looking at Hiccup curiously for an answer.

From his end however, he felt like a wolf was looking at its prey with an intent to kill. That's how he felt at least, considering he was the prey, and prey were usually very, very, _very_ scared of being caught. It was a perfect analogy too! If he explained the truth and was caught, he'd be killed!

"I-uh... Uh, well, you see-" He looked away briefly, scanning the area for a possible Gobber the Belch to make an entrance at _any possible point in time right now_ so that he could somehow pretend he was busy and had to get back to work. However, the gods already gave him a pass once and they're never kind enough to give two... "The thing is..." His eyes briefly pointed to Astrid, the girl looking exactly as she did five seconds ago.

Yeah, there was no out for him...

"I'm a loser..." Hiccup's arms dropped to his side as his head slumped forward. _Might as well start with a little honesty as I make up an excuse, right?_

It apparently worked to buy some time because the reply seemed to leave her dumbfounded. She looked at him bizarrely with her mouth slightly agape, looking like she wanted to comment but no words leaving her mouth. In the silence of the room, Hiccup could only awkwardly rub the back of his neck as he blatantly admits he's a loser in front of the girl he's practically idolized for at least the majority of his hormonally driven life. Again, let's be honest with himself. He wasn't scoring points with her anyways...

"So..." The girl finally spoke after her stupor. "You were... actually _disowned?_ " Hiccup's eyes went wide.

"What?! No! No-no, no. I wasn't- No, I wasn't disowned or-or anything like that. That's not what happened." He immediately replied sporadically at the notion as his hands frantically waved in front of him and his head shook left and right.

"But, you said you're a loser, so Stoick didn't let you in dragon training. That's what happened, right?" When she said it like that, it actually became much clearer why she assumed that's what happened. That actually... wow, he really needed to get better at explaining things. Hearing the words over again really sells the whole 'disowned' idea.

"Tha-that's not what happened." He attempted to correct her, feeling himself calm as he continued speaking. "It's nothing like that. It's just..." He looked to the ground as he prepared himself. Now came the _actual_ explaining part. "I-okay, it's not a secret I'm sort of really bad at... well... a lot of things."

He turned his head up to her and saw her immediately nod in agreement. _Self-esteem, yea..._

"So, after the whole dragon raid thing where I shot dow- didn't hit the Night Fury and got yelled at in front of the village. I decided to try and look for him." _And totally found him! But, that's not the point. Fake story, remember that._ "I... I looked everywhere for him- _it!_ Looked everywhere for _it_ and couldn't find anything..." Suddenly, he started feeling dejected again. The mix of emotions he felt that day coming back to him. "When I got back, I just sat by the village thinking where I went wrong..."

He didn't realize it, but his fake story was transitioning into his very real thought process that night.

"How... how was I supposed to tell my dad I screwed up again?" _Why didn't I kill him then...?_ Hiccup started walking over to the saddle laying on the ground before he picked it up and blankly stared at it, half lidded eyes peering at the proof of his failure. "I couldn't even kill a downed dragon..." It was a hard thing to look at. Here it was, not only proof of his inability to kill a dragon, but now it is evidence he was trying to _help_ dragons! The sworn enemies of Vikings and he was helping those dragons. Those _things!_ Those...

 _Toothless_

"Then it hit me..."

His thoughts fell to a goofy dragon lying belly up in the lake as he swam gingerly before rapidly flipping himself over in an attempt to catch fish on his own.

Another image of a dragon walking on its hind legs as it moved towards Hiccup before vomiting up half a fish and flashing his signature dopey, toothless grin.

A dragon who'd tackle him if he even thought of trying to withhold a single fish from his view before snickering knowingly at Hiccup's displeasure.

On that night, when the most menacing and powerful dragon known in Viking culture laid trapped in his bola net and completely at his mercy just stared at him with a look that he knew all too well... _Fear._ Not only fear, but fear of _him._

"I... just wasn't meant to kill dragons." _I didn't want to be the cause of that fear._ "Spent all my life trying and it finally dawned on me that it wasn't meant to be... So-" He placed the saddle back on the anvil and started gathering up all the tools on the ground. He began sorting them back in their respective locations, grabbing a stool to reach the higher spots. "-I thought that I'd be better in the forge as Gobber's apprentice, and hopefully another blacksmith." A smile crept on his face as he placed the interchangeable hands back on the rack.

"At least this way, I can still help." _Both Vikings and dragons._

Feeling content with his response, his resolve, he hopped off the stool after placing one of the tongs back in place, he let out a sigh of relief. The thought of that night was a weight that felt like it was weighing on him for a while now. In the back of his mind, it had been subtly prodding him bit by bit. A question unanswered until now. However, he was finally able to figure out why he couldn't... wouldn't kill Toothless, and it was all thanks to... Right! _Astrid!_

Hiccup jerked his head back to the person he had literally poured his heart out and resulted in his realization. What he saw was... astonishment. Not his astonishment, but hers. She was looking at him with wide eyes and utterly surprised. Her posture had changed during his explanation. Her hands once rested on her legs were now holding up her head as her elbows were positioned on her knees. This was... uncomfortable for him considering it was focused _on_ him. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to go about their conversation.

"Wow." She commented softly as her expression relaxed. Hiccup stiffened at the words. Astrid straightened herself out as she seated herself upright. "I've got to admit, that takes guts."

"Uh-what?" Confusion. Lots and lots of confusion. It seemed to go unnoticed as the girl lifted her legs over the counter and twirled herself back outside before hopping out of the forge once again.

"Not a lot of people can admit something like that-" She picked up her axe and began inspecting its edges. "-and a lot more aren't willing to accept it and try something different. It's not really the Viking way." She glanced back at him and quirked a smile. "But being stubborn and pushing on _is_ , and it's something I can respect."

It was Hiccup's turn to look dumbfounded. That was probably the closest thing to a compliment he's ever gotten from her or anyone in a very long time. The fact it was from her made it even more special. Feeling almost gleeful, he gave her a bright and genuine smile. Maybe the choice he made wasn't such a bad idea. It might have been wishful thinking, but maybe one day he could-

"Catch!"

Unable to comprehend the words, his hands had subconsciously extended itself on front of his body before an axe abruptly collided with his person. Immediately, Hiccup went roaring to the ground as the weight of the axe dropped him like a stone. Well, he did catch it, but seriously she was able to hold this with one hand? He could barely stand up while holding it with two!

"I'm gonna need that sharpened before the end of the day. I want it ready for training tomorrow and I don't plan on leaving it here overnight." Astrid said absolutely. Rolling her shoulders a few times, she was about to walk away but for a brief moment looked over her shoulder. "Even if you're not cutting down dragons, as a Viking, you're still expected to be the best at what you do. Also, it's my mom's axe and I don't expect anything less."

Watching as the blonde headed Viking teen was walking away, Hiccup picked himself up from the ground. The smile remained persistent on his face. This was a nice feeling. He wasn't a hundred percent certain on how his dad felt about his decision. The man had accepted the proposition and acknowledged its potential. However, it felt like a lesser of two evils decision rather than him believing in his son. As for Gobber... he was Gobber. The guy's expectation level went about as far as his undies stayed clean. Not far and not long...

Right now, it felt nice to know at least one person was expecting something of him. Whether it was to be the best or simply trying didn't matter to him. The option of a blacksmith was only so he didn't have to kill dragons. Now, it was something he wanted to be good at, to be great at, or even the absolute best at. It gave him the drive to at least try. He picked up Astrid's axe with the resolve to do his best as the apprentice blacksmith. He'd at least try to show his resolve to her, to his father, to the people of Berk. He was the one that made the choice. Might as well be the best at it.

 **Author's Note : Ho boy, this will be a big one, so I've got _an extra side story below_ as a little something since I would prefer keeping my A.N. as short as possible, which this will not be. Feel free to skip this if you want since I myself am a culprit of that as well. Now, enough of the faff and onto the point. I say this but I'm immediately going to go into more faff... Anyways, I wanted to address a review I got, and I won't do this normally so apologies in advance. I simply don't like the idea of commenting on every review, but that doesn't mean I'm not thankful or don't appreciate them! I just feel it bogs down everything when all we honestly want is to keep reading the main story. SERIOUSLY! NO MORE MONKEYING ABOUT! I wanted to address a review, one small part specifically.**

 _Teenylambofgod : "I wasn't pulled in by the summary very quickly, but I'm really glad that I gave reading this a shot. Reworking the entire movie would give time to show how everyone treats Hiccup over time after making that decision. It'll be very interesting to see how you will do that without reworking the movie."_

 **First off, thank you for the very kind words that I mostly cut out because I wanted to get to the point which I'm currently doing a really poor job of. Secondly, I agree that my original summery was pretty weak and sort of on the spot when I made it. I've updated it to be more telling of how the main story will play out, which leads into my third point. The entirety of the preludes happens within the timeline of the first movie and we're already halfway through them, though I'm debating on reworking the end to make it one shorter or longer or to not change it at all. Even when the preludes are complete, I want to change stuff. When I finish the main story, this will become worse... Back on topic! My point being that the main story itself will actually take place a few years after, roughly in the time frame of Race To The Edge but with a completely different context and story obviously, and there's good reason it's taking place then. Much of the reactionary happenings for Hiccup's choice will be addressed in the preludes as you've seen in this chapter. A lot of pivotal moments have also been changed because past events were changed. Case in point, Hiccup's realization for his decision in the forest on the night he downed Toothless, though the trigger for that realization remained relatively the same, i.e. Astrid.**

 **Paragraphing this because I feel like this next bit deserves its own section, it's just that big. Also, this no longer ties in with the review above. This is just something I wanted to say to those who might be reading this expecting loads of Hiccup x Astrid. _This isn't a romance._ I'm sorry, but it's not. It doesn't mean there won't be moments and fluff between the two, but it does mean their relationship is very much platonic throughout it all, and whether or not that status changes in the future is still up in the air... it's really not, they get together. I'm Hiccstrid, it's canon, sue me. However, them being together isn't the main focus. I have the blueprint for the entire story drafted from beginning to end and I very much want this to be a fun story about the interactions and hijinks _Hiccup_ has. If you step away now, it's totally understandable. With that being said, what I intend to carry this series with is how Hiccup deals with everybody: the teens, Gobber and Stoick, fools in the village or even outside of it, _hint hint, nudge nudge._ Really, the series is meant to be fun and hopefully original, and the star is Hiccup.**

 **Man, I had a lot to say and I might say more stuff at the end of these preludes/teaser, but for now I feel it's time we got on with the show. If you stuck around reading this, you're an incredibly patient person and I hope I kept you well informed. Now here's a little something extra for those that haven't skipped all this bold text. I plan to have little vignettes here and there, mainly from the perspectives of not-Hiccup, though some might be, I honestly don't know, these side stories are a spur of the moment. Whether or not they're canon to the story will be left ambiguous... which means probably not, but these will be small things that might not fit perfectly in the main story but are too goofy or silly to leave out, so think of these as a cherry on top. Not necessary to have but delicious all the same. This one specifically was inspired by a deleted scene from the original movie. Why it was cut out or changed, I'll never know, but it was too amazing to not pay homage to. Actually, now that I think about it, I also sort of cut it from the main plot... Funny how that works**

 _Extra: Right But Not..._

"I'm here for my axe." Astrid called out from the forge window, casually leaning against the counter as she waited patiently for a reply. Originally, she was going to stay behind and wait for the axe to be sharpened before leaving the forge, but thought it might take some time to completely sharpen her axe. He might have been Gobber's apprentice for a while now but he was still sort of _Hiccup_ and barely able to carry it. It probably would have been a long wait if she did stay, so instead decided to reconvene with the group.

When she told them about Hiccup's reasoning as to why he wasn't in dragon training, she was nice enough to leave out the more personal details. The long-story-short version she had told them was that Hiccup simply decided it was better to make weapons rather than use one after his dad had yelled at him during the raid. The notion made sense to Fishlegs and the twins but left Snotlout very dissatisfied with the reasoning. However, it wasn't because he didn't believe it. It was because he really, _really_ wanted to be chief.

 _"So, if he's a blacksmith now, then it means he's not gonna be chief, right? I mean, who's heard of a chief that makes weapons? You're supposed to use them!"_ she recalled Snotlout commenting sourly with pouted lips. What a baby.

 _"Actually, there are several counts of people who've been craftsman before taking on the roll as chief. Why there's-"_ and this is when Astrid tuned out of Fishlegs's lecture. He went on to list a few no-name chiefs of little to no importance that were known for making stuff. No-name as in names not worth remembering. They did have names, but no one except Fishlegs cared to remember them even after being told what they were. Either way this led to more sulking and grumbling from Snotlout which lead to more arguing and complaining, and somehow that lead into a food fight that Astrid immediately took an exit out of the moment the first drumstick was flung. How was it possible that arguments always led to food being thrown around? Dumb question, really. The twins were involved.

Thinking over the eventful dinner, she was starting to grow impatient. She called out a second time about her axe and was only greeted with the sound of silence. Now she was getting a little annoyed. If it took this long to get one axe sharpened, then the prospect of being even a decent blacksmith was starting to look like an impossibility.

"Hey, Hiccup, I left my axe here and I said I was gonna pick it up by the end of the day. I was serious when I said I didn't want to leave it over-"

"Astrid-hi! Hi Astrid." Hiccup leapt through one of the doors of the forge. She was momentarily startled by the sudden entrance. "Hey, yeah, sorry about that. I-I was... Uh... I was-was-was just going over different axe model designs... stuff... and... that... yeah." He punctuated.

The blonde teen raised a brow as she leered at him. For some reason, he looked nervous... and twitchy... Then again, that's how he always looked now that she thinks of it.

"So, uh, yeah! Your axe is-uh-is-" He dashed back into the back room and immediately came out with an axe in hand. "-here! Your axe is here." Astrid took note of his hobbling demeanor as he made his way towards her. It seems like he got used to carrying it around considering the last time she saw him, he could barely lift it. When he finally made it to her, she grabbed its handle and effortlessly took it.

"Thanks-wait..." Her eyes glared at the hand holding her axe. She proceeded to raise and lower it repeatedly, unaware of the excessive sweat running down the apprentice's face. "This feels..." She began spinning the head of the axe a few times, watching as the double sided blade spun almost rhythmically. After a few rotations, she began passing the axe back and forth between hands. "-different."

"That's because I rebalanced it!" The boy squeaked. Astrid turned her attention away from her axe back to Hiccup. "You know... uh-tightened... tightened it up. Um... finessed it." While explaining, his hands were gesturing turning as though they were turning bolts and twisting handles before they looked up at the raised brow on Astrid's face. He gulped silently before quickly glancing down at his feet. "Had to-uh-had to show off my... erm... blacksmithing capabilities! Yeah- abilities... at smithing... yes." He grinned nervously.

Astrid just stared at him for a moment, his feet fidgeting a few times as he leant against the grinder beside him. The grinder immediately rolled forward on his arm causing him to fall forward but luckily catching himself mid-fall. He bolstered straight immediately trying to play it off as nothing. Unperturbed by the event, she looked back at her axe, spinning its head again before she lightly threw the axe up in the air and expertly catching it. Aside from being a bit lighter, the blade rotation was better for sure. The pivot point of the spin was more centered with the axe as a whole rather than between the blades which meant for a larger hit radius when throwing.

"Huh..." She commented casually rotating her hands a few times, feeling the improvements. She turned her attention back to Hiccup and said, "thanks" before turning away and walking home. There might be something to Hiccup's decision. It might just be for the better.

What she had failed to notice was the reason Hiccup was fidgeting his feet was because he was discreetly trying to push aside an axe head with an enormous crack in the blade. Hiccup prayed she would never find out, but had a gut feeling that if she did, it would be painful. It would be oh so very painful...

* * *

 **Update 3/30/2016 : Alright, so I just now realized I actually never put an appropriate update on what was going on. For those wondering about those last few chapters of the prelude... They're gone! No, it wasn't a freak accident, writers block, or madness. I just thought that this chapter was more fitting of an end to the preludes. The more I looked over the remaining chapters I had left, the more I realized it had become a weird summarized version of the movie with my own twist, which _isn't_ what I intended. The preludes were meant to ease you into a story that's a bit unfamiliar to the current formats established in the fandom. None of the prelude chapters after this did that job. So, I cut those chapters and plan to incorporate those aspects into the main story itself, though I am sad that it meant I had to cut out much of Toothless's place in this introduction. However, trust me when I say that Toothless is very much part of the main plot. He's the whole reason Hiccup's in this mess after all. As for what's happening with the preludes now, this is the last chapter before it all begins because it is exactly what I want you to expect from the main story. It's Hiccup in his new role as he tries to handle two different and polar opposite lives to the best of his abilities... with minor _hiccups_ in between.**

 **That's all I have to say and the next time you see this story updated, it will essentially be complete with a set update schedule of two chapters a week. I look forward to seeing you all then!**


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